At the close of a two-day meeting in Kyoto, G8 foreign ministers today condemned the decision to go ahead with the election and the violence that has surrounded it.

"We deplore the actions of the Zimbabwean authorities -- systematic violence, obstruction and intimidation -- which have made a free and fair presidential runoff election impossible," they said in a joint statement.

8.45am

Even by its own low standards, Mugabe's mouthpiece, the Herald, makes sickening reading this morning. It has three opinion pieces titled respectively "Road to victory", "Blow the trumpet of freedom 'Gabriel' Mugabe" and "Let's consign Morgan to the dustbin". Unsurprisingly, it predicts a "massive turnout" today.

Associated Press is reporting that voter turnout has picked up after a slow start.

9.05am

My colleague David Batty has had an in depth look at this morning's papers. He observes that

death threats against Zimbabweans who dare to vote against their incumbent president, or indeed defy the now mandatory vote, preoccupy the British press.

One white farmer in the country told the Times that his workers had told him: "If there is one MDC vote they will find that person and cut off his or her head."

Already Associated Press is reporting groups of people led by apparent ruling party marshals lining up at polling stations.

9.15am

The details of a statement made by Tsvangirai to MDC supporters today is reported on Al Jazeera.

"Today is not an election. Today is a shameful humiliation, another tragic day in our nation's history," he said.

"Today's results will be meaningless because they do not reflect the will of the people of Zimbabwe. Today's results reflect only the fear of the people of Zimbabwe."

9.45am

On the forum on the NewZimbabwe website Beelzebub asks: "How much longer will these parasites go on bleeding the country? I don't know about the rest of you but I am sick of politics, we have jobs, families, lovers which are being eclipsed by the constant worry which these bastards are subjecting us to?"

On the same site provokot1 tries to leaven the despair with humour. "Queues can be seen all over the capital, Harare although rumours of a single bottle of cooking oil having come onto the market may have caused some confusion," provokot1 writes.

After the G8 summit the Italian foreign minister said he wanted EU foreign ministers to discuss recalling European ambassadors from Zimbabwe, Reuters has reported.

Franco Frattini said he has asked the French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, to start the process, given that France's six-month European Union presidency starts in July.

But the head of the African Union Commission did not address the presidential run-off in his opening remarks to African foreign ministers at a meeting in Egypt. The meeting is taking place ahead of Monday's AU summit.

10am

Mugabe makes the cover of today's Economist. In a leader on Zimbabwe's ruler entitled How to get him out. It concludes that South Africa is "the key" to removing him and should join the EU imposing targeted sanctions. The Economist thinks removing Mugabe by force is an option but other methods should be tried first. It also says that using force would be "unthinkable" without the cooperation of African leaders.

The extent to which the stock of the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, has fallen during the crisis as a result of his softly, softly approach is illustrated by an article on the website Zimbabwemetro.

Gerald Harper writes: "When Govan Mbeki was told that his son was to take over once Nelson Mandela steps down, Govan himself reportedly said : 'No, Thabo is not ready. Thabo is not big enough to lead the ANC'. Perhaps he was right."

10.10am

More than 700 votes have been registered on the Zimbabwe Times website in response to the question "Should the MDC have pulled out from the run-off?" At the time of writing 84% had said yes.

The paper has an editorial today in which it criticises what it sees as a low-key response by the South African Development Community (SADC).

"If evidence was ever required that Zimbabwe and the world has misplaced faith in the capacity of SADC to intervene in a meaningful way that evidence was tendered in Swaziland on Wednesday," it says.

The SADC noted its "concern and disappointment" that Tsvangirai had withdrawn from the run-off. "This statement must have been tailored for the ears of Mugabe," says the Zimbabwe Times.

10.30am

The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, today said that the US would bring up the issue of further sanctions against Zimbabwe in the UN security council, according to Reuters. Associated Press says paramilitary police have been deployed in a park in Harare and marshals are leading voters to polling stations.

10.40am

Pictures of people voting have been posted on NewZimbabwe. But before you look, be warned that there are also graphic images of injuries suffered by MDC supporters in recent violence. To go ahead click here.

10.45am

You can read the full text of the MDC message "from President Tsvangirai" here. He takes inspiration from religion, saying: "Be not afraid, the Lord is with you."

Change will come. Keep the faith. To Africa and observers, we say, people's lives are in your hands.

11.35am

A campaigning group called Bulawayo Agenda, which promotes democracy, is compiling reports of voting. It says voting has been slow so far.

11.50am

In Bulawayo MDC supporters marched through the city handing out flyers urging people not to vote, the Zimbabwean reports.

12pm

The European Commission has said that today's election is invalid.

"The European Commission, like the UN, does not consider this election legitimate or valid," a spokeswoman for the EU executive told Reuters.

Today's election is a sham, the election is hollow and its result will be equally hollow and meaningless.

12.45pm

An Associated Press video shows few voters at polling stations. It also features the comments made by Condoleeza Rice earlier and the UK foreign secretary, David Miliband, saying there was "no legitimacy" attached to today's election.

1pm

HelpSaveZimbabwe.org is offering visitors to the site a "free and fair" online vote for Mugabe or Tsvangirai.

On the website's forum one poster from Zimbabwe writes: "Zimbabwe has become a nation of stunned, terrified, helpless, hopeless people that can do nothing without support from the rest of the world."

1.20pm

There is an interesting story on the South African Mail&Guardian website. Mandy Rossouw writes: "South Africa has been supplying Zimbabwe with weapons of war, including helicopters, revolvers and cartridges - despite the mounting human rights atrocities in that country."

The Mail&Guardian also reports that Mugabe has cast his vote in Harare. "I feel very fit and very optimistic," he told reporters.

Remarkably it also quotes the ex-Sierra Leone president Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, the head of a mission of about 50 African Union observers, saying "I'm highly impressed by the orderly manner in which the election has been organised." That may not bode well for the prospects of the AU reaching agreement on concrete action to tackle the crisis in Zimbabwe.

1.25pm

Zimbabwean blogger The Bearded Man is a valuable source of information. He says Mugabe "threatens the very continued existence of the Zimbabwean people". But he welcomes the comments made yesterday by Botswana's president saying that the SADC must "become proactive in the crisis".

"I have often stated that not only is Botswana one of the few countries in the immediate region that has not had what would appear to be the obligatory African wa[r]s for 'freedom', but that the sitting president, Ian Khama, son of the late Sir Seretse Khama - together with former Ghanian president Gerry Rawlings - may just hold the key to resolving the Zimbabwean crisis and the Mugabe problem," he writes.

1.40pm

The head of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping, said today that the biggest challenge facing the continent was to "ensure that elections do not lead to troubles and violent and often bloody protests," although he did not refer to Zimbabwe by name.

1.50pm

It has been reported that some people have been putting an "X" next to both names on their ballot papers and then writing "Mugabe must go". In the same article, the death last night of Samson Magumura, the MDC provincial organising secretary, at the hands of Zanu PF thugs in Headlands is reported.

2pm

"On March 29, 200 had voted by this time, today 10," reports ZimbabweMetro from a polling station in Harare.

2.20pm

The MDC is asking people visiting its website whether it should form a government of national unity. At the time of writing almost 16,000 people had voted and there was a 50-50 split between the Yes and No camps.

3pm

On the NewZimbabwean forum someone commenting under the - presumably assumed - name of Emmerson Mnangagwa - which is the name of a senior member of Zanu PF - writes: "I just talked to [MDC spokesman] Nelson Chamisa and he said that MDC is going to unveil a plan B on Wednesday. The details around this plan are being closely guarded."

Another commenter describes the person responsible for posting this information as someone who "has so far been true and brought many of us hope". But others express anger about having to wait for the details of "plan B".